Day 1 – Santo Antonio to Tavira (31.9 km) – Wednesday March 20, 2024
After a hearty breakfast, I packed my things and set off around 9am. I took another short detour to the harbor and then passed the lighthouse.
A few minutes later I turned left and the path took me briefly through a pine forest, which would finally take me to the beach.
When I arrived at the beach, I immediately got a beautiful view of the sea and the fairly empty sandy beach.
The path now took me almost 10 km along the water and further and further west. Since there wasn’t much going on and I was pretty much alone on the sand alongside a few joggers and walkers, running in the beautiful surroundings was really fun. Most of the time I ran right next to the water in the wet sand to prevent myself from sinking and to still make progress reasonably quickly. The whole time I heard the sound of the waves next to me, which had a very calming effect, and I watched some fishing boats at work on the water.
At one point I was able to watch the fishing boats being pulled across the beach to their places by a tractor. They left deep tracks in the sand and walking along this section wasn’t particularly easy.
After a while I left the sandy beach and the path continued along smaller paths. Here I met even fewer people and I was basically alone. Here the landscape was predominantly characterized by water, sand and cacti. In between I had to repeatedly cross smaller bodies of water, but most of the time I was able to do this with shoes.
On the way I also passed an old well that was beautifully decorated.
Shortly before I was supposed to reach an old fortress, I had to take off my hiking boots and ford through the water barefoot in order to continue walking on the other side with flip-flops.
Next to the small fortress there was also an old church on the hill and from the top I had a nice view of the water and the surrounding area. After enjoying the view for a few minutes and putting my hiking boots back on, I set off again.
This was followed by a short detour along a road and then I turned back to the beach. There we went again on lonely paths through the beautiful nature.
I also found an abandoned boat. Unfortunately it no longer seemed suitable for water and so I continued on foot.
Since I was alone the whole time and wasn’t in a rush, at some point I spread out my sleeping mat right next to the water and lay in the sun for a few minutes.
After my short break, I soon left the sand again and came to Cabanas in Tavira. Here I walked along the beautiful harbor and then left the city straight away.
After leaving the town we soon went through salt works to Tavira.
There I walked to the only campsite in town. When I got there, I unfortunately discovered that the reception was only open until 3:45 p.m. and that I was almost 2 hours late. Since I didn’t want to walk much further, I quickly booked a room in a B&B and then made my way there. At least I passed through the beautiful old town, which was beautifully illuminated in the evening sun.
When I arrived at the accommodation, I took a quick shower, then went for something to eat and then went to sleep.
Day 2 – Tavira to Olhao (28 km) – Thursday February 21, 2024
Unfortunately, breakfast wasn’t served until 8 a.m. today, so I didn’t leave until around 9 a.m. I walked from the harbor towards the old town again and looked at an old church with beautiful tile art.
From the bell tower I could see over parts of the city.
Afterwards I passed a castle and then I started to leave the city as quickly as possible.
This was followed by a longer section along orchards. Sometimes I passed orange trees and sometimes figs. Not all of the farms really looked farmed, but sometimes just the gate was a bit run down.
Despite the somewhat cloudy weather, walking through the quiet area was quite pleasant and I made good progress. After about 10 km I met the sea again, which greeted me with a salty smell.
The natural-looking coast was soon replaced by salt flats and I then followed these to Fuseta. The path wound through the basins and smaller mountains could be seen further in the background.
When I arrived in Fuseta at lunchtime and saw a nice restaurant right on the harbor, I stopped in there and ate a delicious sea bream.
After the long lunch break we continued. First briefly along the promenade along the water and then again for a longer period through salt works.
I actually met a few flamingos there again, which I was very happy about. In contrast to the flamingos in Patagonia, the ones here were relatively more white and less pink, but that didn’t bother me. In addition to the flamingos, there were also many other birds to observe.
In addition to all the birds and all the water, there were also funny cacti to see every now and then.
After the salt works there was a section through a larger wetland, although the path here was at least very well developed and so I kept walking along wooden footbridges at a fast pace.
Shortly before Olhao I actually wanted to cross a railway bridge over a river. But since a construction worker told me a few hundred meters ahead that there was definitely no progress here, I unfortunately had to take a less pleasant detour along a busy street. Hiking here was no fun at all and the only satisfaction I got here was that I was walking faster than the people who had to drive their cars in slow traffic.
When I finally arrived in Olhao, I quickly turned off, left the main road and headed straight to the campsite. Unfortunately, the place for the tents was at the back end and so I strolled another 500 meters across the large campsite, only to realize that there were only mobile homes there apart from my tent. Since it felt like there were only people 50+ here, I didn’t really get the feeling of camping and so I soon holed up in my tent after a poor dinner.
Day 3 – Olhao to Quarteira (36.8 km) – Friday March 22, 2024
Today I got up at 7 a.m., quickly dismantled my tent, had some cereal for breakfast at a table and drank coffee with it. After that it started. It went through the city and I passed the very industrial harbor. Some fishing baskets, which are probably used to catch crabs, were right at the harbor and many fishing boats could also be seen.
The promenade afterwards was much more attractive and there were many nice cafes next to it, which were already full even at an early hour. If I hadn’t had breakfast first, I would definitely have settled here too.
So I continued on through nature. I followed the cycle lane on a path that was very easy to walk and offered little spectacle in this area and was moving very quickly. While most of the time I followed the train tracks to my right, I was able to look at the different landscapes to my left. Even when the weather wasn’t ideal, I enjoyed running here. Again and again we went over smaller wooden footbridges, which were probably created especially for cyclists.
Unfortunately, the path suddenly ended without warning, even though the sign had pointed in that direction less than 50 meters earlier.
I walked across the train tracks and followed a road to Faro. On the road with 4 lanes, running became less fun again and I was happy when I was finally able to leave it behind me.
In Faro I made my way straight to the port. On the way I bought something to eat in a supermarket and then took my lunch break at the harbor.
Since I had already seen the sights a few days ago, I then continued walking along the sea. First we went along a small bay through a kind of park.
Then we went around the airport. Here I could always see planes taking off and landing and the ground staff, who were making their rounds along the fence in their cars, always waved happily to me. Somehow the runway was longer than expected and so the route took quite a long time.
When I got to the end, I was a little exhausted and lay down on a bench for a few minutes to rest my feet.
Then I continue my hike through a nature reserve. The nature was very beautiful and most of the time we continued on wooden footbridges. While I had only met day-trippers or cyclists up to this point, this was the first time that I met people with larger backpacks, whom I of course greeted in a particularly friendly manner.
At some point I passed a golf course and later I found the expensive villas in the area right next to me.
Afterwards we continued through very beautiful landscapes. First past a pine forest.
Then we went back to the beach and the wooden walkways were replaced with sand again.
Gradually the coast next to me became a little steeper and the first signs of a cliff became visible.
I actually wanted to spend the night in a tent somewhere again today. But since I had no more water and couldn’t find a suitable place, I booked a room in a cheap hotel for a short break.
As soon as I set off again, I came across an almost perfect spot for my tent in a pine forest, where there was even a restaurant nearby to fill up with water.
But since I had already booked my room, I continued walking towards the city. At least we went back along the beach for the rest of the time. Due to the light wind that was now blowing, the waves were bigger and the sea seemed rougher.
After 37 km I reached Quarteira. There I ran straight to the hotel and took a long bath. Since I couldn’t find a good restaurant in the immediate vicinity and didn’t want to walk far, I ate a few things from my food bag in my room and then stayed on my bed until I fell asleep later.
Day 4 – Quarteira to Armacao de Pera (32.1 km) – Saturday March 23, 2024
Even though I had booked the cheapest hotel, the breakfast was really great and I spent some time replenishing my energy reserves. After not eating much last night, I had to run to the buffet more often today to satisfy my morning hunger. Here is a picture of my first plate.
I left the hotel at 9:30 sharp and walked along the promenade out of the city. Apparently a triathlon was planned here, because there were barriers and advertising posters everywhere. At least I was always able to find a way in between and quickly got to the edge of the city.
I followed smaller paths along the coast. Over time, the slopes became steeper and higher and soon I was on a kind of cliff, from which I could still see the beach in front of me.
I had to stop again and again to take a picture of the beautiful surroundings and so I made little progress on this section despite the good paths. The red rocks with their washed-out formations looked really impressive and they increasingly replaced the sandy beach.
As the altitude increased, the large rock formations became more and more spectacular.
After hiking up there for a long time, I soon returned to the sand before I finally left it. The slopes were also very attractive from below.
Later the sandy beach was replaced by the stone coast and only now and then there was a small sandy beach between the rocks.
On one of these beaches I climbed along a few rocks and came to a small ledge that was not visible from the beach but was still protected from the high waves. Here I finally unpacked my gas stove again and made myself a delicious coffee. While the water crashed onto the rocks right in front of me, I happily drank my coffee and enjoyed the natural spectacle.
After a while I climbed back and then continued along the cliffs towards the west. I soon passed the city of Albufeira, but it was already too crowded for me personally and I quickly left it behind.
We continued along small paths over the rocks and the landscape was really fascinating.
At one point I was able to find a small hidden beach. The water came under the rocks and the beach was completely enclosed by a steep rock wall. I still got down a small staircase and took a closer look at everything.
Then we went back up and continued over the rocks. I often walked alone through the rocky and beautiful area.
Since the sun was already slowly setting, I filled up my water in a restaurant and kept looking for suitable places for my tent. Since I was directly on the coast either visible or the place was simply unsuitable for camping, I kept walking.
When I hit the tourist trail again and couldn’t find a place there either, I looked online for a room in the area. Since, strangely enough, all the cheap things were fully booked and I didn’t want to pay €250, I just continued walking along the wooden walkways towards the city.
Shortly before I reached the bridge over the last river before the city, I climbed down from the path, followed a small path up a hill and sat there on a large stone. Here I found a suitable spot for my tent. The view wasn’t the highlight, but since it was almost dark, that didn’t bother me much. I cooked myself dinner and until I had eaten it, I was able to set up my tent in the pitch black, which I managed to do well thanks to my intensive training over the last few months. After that I went to sleep soon because I didn’t have much else to do.
